On Boundary Terms and Conformal Transformations in Curved Spacetimes

We intend to clarify the interplay between boundary terms and conformal transformations in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We first consider the action for pure gravity in five dimensions and show that, on compactifing a la Kaluza-Klein to four dimensions, one obtains the correct boundary terms in the Jordan (or String) Frame form of the Brans-Dicke action. Further, we analyze how the boundary terms change under the conformal transformations which lead to the Pauli (or Einstein) frame and to the nonminimally coupled massless scalar field. In particular, we study the behaviour of the total energy in asymptotically flat spacetimes as it results from surface terms in the Hamiltonian formalism.